But maybe not. Audrey alerted us to Back Bay's own Frank the Pig (Frank being short for Francis, as in, you know, that English guy), whose owner, Hayley, likes taking him out for constitutionals around the neighborhood

Just think: This person was so annoyed he or she went home (or just inside) fuming, pounded this out on the keyboard, printed it out and went back out with some tape to alert the miscreant, who no doubt will read it, feel incredibly guilty and pledge to carry a Globe Direct bag for poop forever more.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today that the owners of a German Shepherd have to pay the $8,000 veterinary bill incurred by the owners of the tiny bichon frise their pet ripped up in Newton in 2008.

The large-breed owners argued that state law should have limited their liability to the "replacement cost" of the smaller dog, which they said was far less than $8,000.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that police don't need a warrant to try to save animals in danger of immediate death.

The decision comes in the case of a Lynn woman charged with three counts of animal cruelty when police, responding to a call from her neighbor, found three dogs on her lawn - two dead, one nearly so - and went into her yard to recover the animals without first obtaining a warrant.

The state's highest court said this fell under an exemption to the Fourth Amendment and the similar Article 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights that allows warrantless searches and seizures to save a life:

Oh, for the good old days when it was just North End parents battling it out with dog owners letting their hounds run free over the asphalt of the Gassy park. Now, NorthEndWaterfront.com reports, it's dog owners vs. dog owners in a battle to the death, or something, over their right to unleash their pets in a park clearly marked "No dogs allowed" - complete with photo by one owner of another guy's dogs looking like they're going right for his jugular.

The Milton owner of an 8-year-old parakeet rushed the "bloodied, barely conscious" bird to Angell Animal Medical Center last month after she turned on a shop vac - not realizing the budgie had crawled into the device moments before. In a statement, Angell says veterinarians first stabilized Marie Margarone's Birdie, then got the pet into surgery: